This invention relates to a method for transporting loose equipment such as augers, buckets and other equipment for construction or the like. The invention also relates to a unit which is transportable by trailer or truck for carrying such equipment.
More particularly, this invention relates, in one aspect, to a transportable unit which may be mounted onto flatbed trailers to enable transportation of equipment and apparatus from a first location to a second remote location. In another embodiment of this aspect, this invention also relates to a trailer having or incorporating a transportable unit capable of transporting equipment from a first location such as a storage location, to a second location where such equipment may be used temporarily.
In another aspect, this invention relates to a method of transporting equipment from a first location, such as a storage location for the equipment, to a second location at which the equipment is to be used.
Where equipment is required to be moved from one location to another, specialized trucks or hauling equipment are often employed for the purpose of transporting such equipment from, for example, a storage location to a site where the equipment is to be used. After usage, the equipment is normally returned to a storage site or transported to another use site. Typically, it is desired to haul equipment such as augers, backhoe buckets, machine-operated brushes, hand tools such as shovels, forklift fork members and potentially a variety of other equipment. Typical building and construction contractors must load a variety of equipment on board at the start of each work day to be able to respond to expected and unexpected work requirements.
For contractors in the building and construction industry, the use of specialized equipment such as specialized trailers is a relatively costly expedient to move equipment from one job site to another, or from the contractors place of business to a job site. Specialized trailers can be built for hauling particular items of equipment, such as that used for diggers, Bobcats (tm), backhoes, etc. The trailer can either be specially configured (structured) to carry that particular type of equipment or, the equipment may be merely loaded onto a flatbed type trailer and secured by appropriate means to the trailer. Trailers which are specially configured for certain types of equipment are normally custom manufactured and are relatively expensive. On one hand, they have the advantage of the trailer being specifically configured to load and haul the equipment but on the other hand, they are restrictive for multi-use purposes when different types of equipment may be required to be transported from one site to another. Such custom built equipment has also the disadvantage that it basically can only be used for a single purpose-i.e. haulage of specific equipment for which the trailer was designed for.
Conventional flatbed trailers, on the other hand, merely consist of a wheeled trailer body and as the term implies, a bed for the trailer which is generally planar in nature. When equipment is required to be transported, it is merely loaded onto the bed, and secured by appropriate restraining means such as rope, chain or the like. Although more economical than a custom built trailer, these multi-use flatbed trailers have a restriction in the sense that individual pieces of equipment must be located in a random fashion and secured by suitable means. Such trailers, which are usual in the transportation industry for hauling equipment, normally only have a single flat bed surface. As such, carrying capacity is somewhat limited relative to a multi-platform trailer. Conventional flatbed trucks are also able to carry only a limited number of tools when the tools are simply placed willy-nilly on the bed. This is a particular restriction on contractors who work on several job sites over the course of the day, and often do not even know at the beginning of the day what tools they will need. For these workers, it is desirable to provide a means to conveniently carry a full complement of tools and small loose equipment on a conventional flatbed truck, while still leaving room for a Bobcat (tm) or other small power shovel or the like.
The present invention is directed to employment of conventional trailer units in which the trailer may mount a one piece transportation assembly for transporting equipment. The transportation assembly, including all tools carried by the assembly, can be readily and easily mounted on and removed from the bed of such a conventional trailer unit. In one aspect, the invention is a one piece transportation unit of the type which is adapted for mounting on a conventional trailer bed to permit transportation of equipment and implements comprising a monolithic frame. The invention is characterized by the frame comprising spaced apart upper and lower equipment mounting surfaces. The frame has pairs of opposed sides, one pair of sides defining lateral sides for the unit the other pair forming front and back sides. The frame has supporting members for positioning the upper surface in a spaced apart relationship relative to the lower surface. At least one side of the pairs of sides has an access opening between the upper and lower surfaces to permit loading of equipment onto the upper or lower surfaces. A plurality of spaced apart implement retainers is supported by and mounted to the frame members.
Desirably, the supporting members comprise a plurality of vertical frame members. The frame also has horizontal frame members and at least some of the spaced apart implement retainers are mounted by at least one of the vertical or horizontal frame members between the upper and lower surfaces. In another preferred embodiment, the unit includes at least two load supporting surfaces in an upper and lower planar relationship, the upper surface being spaced from the lower surface by a distance sufficient to permit loading of transportable apparatus on the lowermost surface.
In other preferred embodiments, the upper surface is mounted in a spaced apart relationship to the lower surface by a plurality of peripheral spaced apart frame members, the upper surface having substantially open lateral sides whereby transportable apparatus may be loaded on at least the upper surface. Preferably each of the surfaces includes retaining means for releasably retaining transportable equipment mounted on the surfaces.
The unit preferably includes a plurality of tool carriers specifically adapted to carry a particular tool. These include troughs to carry augers, platforms shaped to carry a specific size of bucket and tubes for holding brooms, forklift fork tines or other tools. Specific fasteners may be provided to hold the implements within the carriers, such as turnbuckle cables to hold forklift fork tines which may fasten to the truck bed.
Desirably, in this embodiment of the invention, the implement retainers comprise a plurality of retaining means mounted in spaced apart relationship on said unit, each retainer means being adapted to retain separate implements. These can include retainers specifically adapted to hold augers, fork lift members, buckets and brooms. The implement retainers may comprise elongated mounting plates angularly displaced relative to the plane of the lower platform.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the unit includes means for releasably securing the unit to a trailer. The upper surface may also comprise a plurality of horizontal longitudinal and transverse frame members forming an upper open supporting surface. Preferably the lower surface comprises a plurality of horizontal positioned longitudinal and transverse frame members forming a lower open supporting surface.
Another embodiment of the invention comprises in combination a trailer assembly comprising a wheeled trailer together with a transportable equipment caddy as described above.
A still further embodiment of the invention is a method of transporting equipment from a storage site to a remote location, comprising in general the steps of (1) providing a transportation unit as characterized above mountable on a conventional trailer bed, (2) mounting and securing of the unit on a wheeled trailer bed at the first site, (3) loading equipment onto at least one of the upper and lower mounting surfaces either before or after the unit is mounted on the trailer bed, and (4) transporting the equipment on the unit to the remote location.
In a further aspect, the unit is mounted onto a trailer bed by means of a fork lift which is then carried to the remote location. In a still further aspect, each tool carried by the unit is placed within an individual trough, carrier or retainer specifically shaped to hold the tool. At least some of the tools are retained during carriage by tiedowns or other fastening means.
Having thus generally described the invention, reference will now be made to preferred embodiments described by reference to the accompanying drawings.